proud canadian, hopeless romantic, lover of life

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Category Archives: Running

I admire people who run without music. First of all, I cannot wrap my head around how they do it. I need music to keep me on pace, keep me motivated, and keep me moving! I’ve tried running without music, but my thoughts immediately go to the tightness in my calves, my bad ankle acting up, or the burning in my legs. This is extremely distracting. However, with music, I can focus on the lyrics and the rhythm in order to keep me distracted.

Just to clarify, like most runners, I’m not jogging along to country roads, I need fast, upbeat, and quick tempo music to keep me running along.

This week has been rather hectic! Now that the sun is here to stay (fingers crossed), I’ve been spring cleaning the house from the outside-in. I’m also getting back into my running routine considering my 15km race is quickly approaching! Myself, my brother’s girlfriend, and three of my best friends are doing the Nike Women’s 15km Race in Toronto in June. Considering the furthest race I’ve done was 10km, I best get back into the swing of things. Otherwise, someone will be piggy backing me to the finish line. Any takers?

I’ve been working adamantly to eat clean as it will be bathing suit season before we know it (joy to the world). I went to Canadian Tire and these adorable little girls approached me asking “do you want to buy girl guide cookies,” and I thought yes but my waistline doesn’t. I try to always support the community in whatever way I can so of course I bought a box, I’m just hoping my boyfriend will eat them all so I’m not tempted :). Mint chocolate is my weakness.

Today I took Ellie for her first official run with me. For those of you who don’t know Ellie is our 10 month old German Shepherd. This has been a long time in the making as it took a lot of training for her to stay beside me and stop before crossing the road. She did so well and only almost tripped me once. It would’ve been a messy tumble as I got tangled in her leash and probably would’ve landed on top of her. The sidewalks are bare so I was able to wear my running shoes for the first time in what seems like forever.

Ellie pushes me to go faster and I think she’d appreciate if I picked up the pace a bit. She also does not quite grasp the idea of a cool down and would rather continue running endlessly. Unfortunately at this point I can’t run for kilometres on end.

All in all she did so well and I’m so proud of her. We’re now both exhausted and ready to relax for the night. Now we just need the man of the house to cook dinner, worth a shot right?

After constantly sanitizing my hands and going over board on Vitamin C, I have fallen victim to the common cold. This is a serious burden as I’m on a short training schedule that has small wiggle room for sick days. However, I understand I have to give my body time to rest and recuperate before I head back out to run in the cold and wet weather.

Here are my tips on how to get better fast so you can get back to training!

1. Sick Day. This means laying in bed, sleeping, enjoying a marathon of Full House, and relaxing. Medicate accordingly, spread Vicks on your chest, and bundle up. Time to sweat it out. If you keep running yourself down you will only become sicker.

2. Hydrate. Yes drinking orange juice, vitamin C smoothies, and lots of tea are all good! However, remember to drink plenty of water in order to keep your body hydrated. Sometimes when we’re sick water isn’t the first thing we reach for. Keep the fluids coming!

3. Stay home from work until you’re better! No one else needs your cold, and I guarantee you will be completely useless if you’re sneezing and coughing at your desk all day. Your coworkers will also give you the death glare every time you sniffle. Respect others and be fair. Keep yourself quarantined in your own home.

4. Don’t begin running until you’re 100% better. If you head out for a run in the cold and you’re still coughing and sniffling you’ll be right back to square one! Give your body time. Don’t be a hero! You’ll be back out there in no time!